Celebrate vegan: 200 life-affirming recipes for occasions big and small

211 Pages·2014·3.208 MB·English

by  Balcavage, Dynise

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Traditional and contemporary
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plant-based recipes for holiday c
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celebrations year-round v
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“Gather, rejoice and feast: Dynise has all the dining milestones covered,
“Cjoeylefburllayt e–s ToVe.e rHgrayen rH iIsot paael im aRnuo smmt-oehrjaiotv,o eVs e bsgohaoonokum lfdoi crbo ena naay ntodrn aVede igwtaiohnon P ifleoo vrin ee stv heteor S yek hayto!l iDdayyn!i”s e Celebr Re2ci0p0e sL iffoer-A Offcircmasiniogn s
makes every occasion a celebration, with 200 deliciously fabulous recipes a Big and Small
to celebrate tons of fun, quirky, traditional, and well-loved holidays.”
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–Julie Hasson, Vegan Diner

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Food and holidays go hand in hand, but for many vegans, cooking celebration
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menus can be stressful. Now, from the author of The Urban Vegan, comes this
gathering of flavorful, animal-free celebratory recipes, both traditional and
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contemporary, using seasonal ingredients. Celebrate Vegan covers the spectrum of
holidays from across the globe—public, religious, and even quirky, lesser-known A
holidays—and includes recipes for important milestones, such as birthdays,
weddings, and anniversaries, as well as menus for everyday celebrations like Girls’ N
Night In, Snow Day, Tailgate Party, and Slumber Party. Easy-to-follow recipes,
cooking tips, and holiday lore make this a book for seasoned chefs and cooking
novices alike.
Dynise Balcavage is the author of The Urban Vegan (Globe
Pequot Press) and eleven books for young readers. She has published
recipes in VegNews, the Philadelphia Daily News, Herbivore, and
Végétariens (France’s first vegetarian magazine), and has been inter-
viewed in the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, and
Vegetarian Times. She lives in Philadelphia, blogs at urbanvegan.net,
and tweets at theurbanvegan.
Cover design by Diana Nuhn
Cover photographs © Paul Runyon US $17.95 / Canadian $19.95
Printed in the United States of America Dynise Balcavage
Lyons Press is an imprint
of Globe Pequot Press Author of The Urban Vegan
Guilford, Connecticut
www.LyonsPress.com LYONS
PRESS
C E L E B R AT E
V E G A N
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C E L E B R AT E
V E G A N
200 Life-Affirming Recipes
for Occasions Big and Small
Dynise Balcavage
Guilford, Connecticut
An imprint of Globe Pequot Press
Celebrate_Vegan_3ppCS4.indd 3 9/12/11 11:27 AM
For the animals
Copyright © 2012 by Dynise Balcavage
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any infor-
mation storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing from the
publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed to The Globe Pequot Press, Attn: Rights
and Permissions Department, P.O. Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437.
Lyons Press is an imprint of Globe Pequot Press
Text design: Sheryl P. Kober
Project editor: Julie Marsh
Layout: Mary Ballachino
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.
ISBN 978-0-7627-7067-0
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Contents
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii International Celebrations . . . . . . 58
Vesak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
New Year Celebrations. . . . . . . . . . 1
Timkat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
New Year’s Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Cinco de Mayo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Chinese New Year . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Bastille Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Earth Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Nowruz (Persian New Year) . . . . . . . . 8
World Vegetarian Day . . . . . . . . . . 76
Rosh Hashanah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Diwali . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
American Celebrations . . . . . . . . 14 Guy Fawkes Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Barbados Independence Day . . . . . . . 87
Martin Luther King Day . . . . . . . . . 15
Mother’s Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Religion-Based Celebrations . . . . . 91
Memorial Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Candlemas / La Chandaleur . . . . . . . 92
Father’s Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Valentine’s Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Fourth of July. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 St. Patrick’s Day . . . . . . . . . . . . .100
Mardi Gras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104
Labor Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Purim. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107
Columbus Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Easter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110
Halloween . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Passover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114
Thanksgiving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Hanukkah. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117
Kwanzaa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Christmas Eve . . . . . . . . . . . . . .122
Festivus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Christmas Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132
Eid al-Fitr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135
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Contents
Milestone Celebrations. . . . . . . . .140 Endurance Event . . . . . . . . . . . . .173
Child’s Birthday. . . . . . . . . . . . . .141 Sick Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .176
Grown-Up’s Birthday . . . . . . . . . . .146 Snow Day. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .179
Wedding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .150 Raw Celebration . . . . . . . . . . . . .183
Anniversary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .153
Acknowledgments. . . . . . . . . . . .185
Funeral . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .156
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .186
Everyday Celebrations . . . . . . . . .159
Additional Resources. . . . . . . . . .187
Girls’ Night In . . . . . . . . . . . . . .160
Recipe Index by Category. . . . . . .188
Tailgate Party . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165
Recipe Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .191
Tea Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .167
Slumber Party . . . . . . . . . . . . . .170 About the author . . . . . . . . . . . .194
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Introduction
Vegan Is a Moveable Feast
“Il faut des rites.”
“Qu’est-ce qu’un rite?”
“C’est aussi quelque chose de trop oublié,” dit le renard. “C’est ce qui fait qu’un jour
est différent des autres jours, une heure, des autres heures.”
Translation:
“We need rituals,” said the fox.
“What’s a ritual?” asked the little prince.
“It’s something too easily forgotten,” said the fox. “It’s what makes one day different
from the others, and one hour different from the other hours.”
—from The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Holidays celebrate and reaffirm life. Since they help dinary and ordinary. A chatty family supper can be a
strengthen our bonds with family and friends—and celebration. So can a meditative bowl of soup enjoyed
with our religions, countries, and cultures—they also alone, while simultaneously devouring a novel and lis-
reinforce our identities. Holidays catapult us into syn- tening to jazz.
copation: from the drudgery of everyday existence It’s important to keep in mind that most holiday
into full-blown celebration mode, heightening our recipes are based on history and stories of days gone
senses and waking up our ability to experience joy. by. What’s interesting is that when you make these
Why not use holidays, both our own and those recipes, you continue the narrative. You become the
of other cultures, as a conduit to affirming life and storyteller. It’s a magical time, when the past fuses
to savoring and sharing its pleasures? Life, after all, with the present to lay the groundwork for the future.
should be a celebration. And vegan food certainly We all have our favorite holidays. Pam, my old-
celebrates life in every sense of the word. est and “bestest” friend, loves Halloween so much
All this said, I think every day should be a holi- that she chose it as her wedding day. My sister Babs
day. Actually, if you consult a calendar—pick your poi- and her daughters go gaga for Christmas. As for me,
son: Julian, lunar, solar, Gregorian, Bahaist—practically Thanksgiving is my holiday of choice. I love the con-
every day is a holiday somewhere in the world. In this cept of gratitude. Most of us have plenty to be grate-
book, for example, I’ve included four entirely different ful about—something you realize after spending any
New Year celebrations—New Year’s, Nowruz (Persian chunk of time with people in developing countries like
New Year), Rosh Hashanah, and Chinese New Year— India, or after undergoing or seeing someone you love
all of which fall on different days. undergo an illness. Still, most of us could use a little
So please, prepare these recipes for all of life’s reminder. I also love the food and the fact that Thanks-
parties and feasts—both big and small, both extraor- giving’s bounty is, for the most part, veg-centric.
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Introduction
no Holiday for farM to some media-induced, unachievable ideal of kitchen
aniMals god or goddess, instead of preparing simple, festive
food that leaves us with enough time and energy left
Despite my love of Thanksgiving, honestly, it’s always
to actually—gasp!—enjoy the celebration. For vegans
sad for me to sit at an omnivore’s dinner table with a
and vegetarians, this kind of stress tends to easily
turkey corpse as the centerpiece. Bizarre, when you
double because we feel anxious about our plant-based
think about how immune most of us have become to
food being judged (or worse yet, ignored) by meat
dead flesh. Animals have almost become objectified
eaters.
to the point where meat no longer registers as some-
It doesn’t have to be this way. I wrote this book
thing that, just a short time ago, was a sentient being
for several reasons:
that lived, ate, and slept, just as we do. Sadly, turkeys
and other fowl are not protected under most state • To provide flavorful vegan holiday recipes
anticruelty laws. As a result, most live horrible lives • To motivate you to replace cruel holiday traditions
in despicable conditions and then suffer unspeakable with kind ones
deaths. • To inspire you to make every day a celebration
I was in Jordan once, during Eid al-Fitr, the Islamic and to learn to recognize and appreciate all the
holiday that marks the end of the month-long fast of gifts and blessings in your lives
Ramadan (which, similar to Easter, breaks the forty
Bon appétit! And happy feasting.
days of fasting during Lent). It’s a joyous, buzzing time.
People dress up, exchange gifts, and enjoy the sump-
Veganizing 101
tuous foods with abandon. This holiday also focuses
on the giving of alms—donating food or money to
As I wrote in my first cookbook, The Urban Vegan,
the poor. A common ritual is to slaughter a sheep
I strongly dislike the verb “to veganize.” It implies
and donate the meat to charity. On the morning of
that omnivorous food is the holy grail of the culi-
Eid, I saw at least ten fathers and their young sons
nary world. It insinuates that vegan food is inferior
slaughtering sheep and lambs. Devastating to witness,
to omnivorous food and that we must attempt to
especially for a sensitive person like me. And from the
replicate omnivorous recipes to make them match as
looks on the little boys’ faces, I don’t think they liked
closely as possible.
it very much, either.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Vegan
food is a fabulous culinary genre in its own right. But
in the context of a book that centers on holiday and
a culinary
celebratory cooking, which, in turn, centers on many
ParadigM sHift:
traditionally omnivorous foods, this verb is necessary,
kinder, gentler,
as are some specific instructions. Many of your non-
HealtHier Holidays
vegan guests will be expecting traditional meat- and
Once you peek behind the curtain of animal cruelty, dairy-laden holiday dishes. And so yes, we will vegan-
it’s impossible to not speak up about it, through your ize. And yes, we will amaze.
actions, your words, or both. A culinary paradigm
shift is long overdue. But if you’re not used to a veg-
Mock Meats
centric diet, changing old habits and time-honored
recipes can be stressful. Many vegans and vegetarians shun mock meats on
Major holidays like Christmas, Rosh Hashanah, principle. I used to think it was admirable. Now, I
and Ramadan are already stressful enough. We want think it’s tiresome. If the only reason, for example,
our celebrations to be memorable and evolve into that a die-hard omnivore is not vegan or vegetar-
treasured family traditions. So we go all out, channel- ian is because he misses the taste of meat, then why
ing our inner Martha Stewart, attempting to subscribe shouldn’t he be able to cook and purchase foods
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Introduction
whose textures and flavors are similar to meat with- Vegan cHeeses
out fear of being ridiculed by fundamentalist vegan-
Years ago, vegan cheeses used to be rubbery and
gelicals? Plus, mock meats are improving in quality,
have a synthetic flavor. Now, they are melty and tasty
and as a cook, it’s nice to have an ever-expanding
enough to fool any unknowing omnivore (which,
armamentarium of food items to experiment with. If
I admit, I take great pleasure in doing from time to
you are a mock-meat fan, you’re in luck because mo’
time). In fact, vegan cheeses have improved consider-
better varieties are available; my local Whole Foods
ably since I wrote The Urban Vegan just two years ago,
has an entire refrigerated case stocked with mock
and they were pretty good even then. In Philadelphia,
meat. Demand creates supply, people!
we now even have a vegan pizzeria called Blackbird
But mock meats are realtively expensive—and
that does a bustling business.
the highly processed foods used in some veg sau-
Daiya brand is my favorite vegan cheese. Like
sages and meats are not great for our health. For this
mock meats, vegan cheeses are expensive. So if you
reason, I don’t indulge in veggie sausages and ten-
are going to splurge on cheese, you might as well opt
ders often. I do, however, eat a lot of tofu, tempeh,
for the cruelty-free, cholesterol-free versions, right?
and seitan. They are so easy to prepare and healthy,
What a bargain! Sample a few varieties. You’re bound
plus I love the chewy texture and protein pump they
to find something that pleases your palate. As is the
provide.
case with mock meats, enjoy any processed vegan
If you do buy mock meats, please read the
cheese in moderation.
labels. As with any food, ingredients should be simple,
By the way, vegan cheeses do not contain casein
whole foods with pronounceable ingredients that you
or whey, which are actually milk products. Some soy
recognize.
cheese does contain casein and/or whey, so be sure
You can generally swap equal amounts of vegan
to check the label.
meats for meats in most recipes.
eggs: tHe Biggest
Baking MytH
Good ingredients—enjoy! Whenever I do a cooking demo, the most popular
• Seitan • Tempeh question is inevitably, “How do you bake without eggs
• Soy • Tofu or milk?” Quite simply, eggs are not needed for bak-
ing. More people are realizing this, hence the prolif-
Questionable ingredients— eration of so many successful vegan bakeries around
avoid completely or consume in the country. (I was so stoked when the vegan baker
extreme moderation impressed the socks off the judges on the Food Net-
• Hydrogenated anything work’s Cupcake Wars and actually won!) It’s taken
• Mono- and diglycerides awhile to debunk this misconception—probably in
• Any ingredient—other than part to the powerful farm and dairy lobbies—but it’s
carrageenan (seaweed)—with more finally happening.
than four syllables is suspect Yes, adding eggs to batter is one way to give
• Food colorings, for example, FD&C lift and moisture to baked goods. But if you dig a bit
Red No. 32 (Using natural food deeper, there are probably about ten other methods
colorings is permissible. To make that accomplish the same end result—without adding
your own, see page 29.) cholesterol. In fact, many well-established vegan bak-
eries don’t even use substitutes; they simply add more
liquid, oil, and/or butter to make a moister cake.
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